Dreamcatcher
by emie14eleanor
Summary: I am Noelle and I was the last one to see Donnie Darko alive. He told me he loved me, and I imagined this entire dream that we'd be together until the end of our time...that only meant until the next morning. I was devastated and mortified to hear the news of my tragic first love...until I met Frank and he told me there was a way to see Donnie again. I'd do anything to see Donnie.
1. Prologue

The last night I saw Donnie, he told me he loved me. His brown eyes sparkled with a sense of sadness like he didn't have much time left. He was the hurricane to pull me in and send me into a downward spiral I wouldn't be able to recover from.

"Donald Kristopher Darko," I stated as I stared at him in my doorway. He wore a skin tight skeleton costume, a gray jacket with the hood pulled up and a pair of sneakers.

He looked up and gave me a smirk under his eyebrows. 'God I wish I could see inside his mind.'

I leaned over the stair banister and bit my lip at him.

"Noelle Dreamcatcher Roswell." He almost growled. I felt his eyes scan over me; I looked down at my simple white dress, tennis shoes and black leather jacket.

"Let's go." He cocked his head to the side, indicating towards the outside. Halloween was at full swing, the streets aglow with jack-o-lanterns and children with flashlights.

I didn't even hesitate; I hurried down the stairs and grabbed my keys. He edged me out of the door and locked it behind him.

We sat under the moonlight in a field of wheat. He had made a clearing for us to sit down and he sat in front of me, his legs tucked like a pretzel as he leaned forward at me.

He taunted me with his daring smirk, "I've got a secret to tell you." He whispered.

"What?" The excitement in my voice betrayed me.

He giggled like a child, he rubbed his knees with the palms of his hands, "I love you."

I felt my insides begin to heat up; I was nervous and I forgot what he had just said, "What?"

He giggled again and leaned into my ear, "I love you, Noelle Dreamcatcher Roswell."

I looked at him, he always seemed cool and collected though I could sense his demons. "Prove it."

He looked at me, confused and quiet, not necessarily a first for Donnie Darko.

"Prove it." I smiled at him.

Donnie hesitated then leaned in to kiss me; he held my waist with his hands as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine.

As he pulled away, I could see the pain on his face. His eyes were shut and his lips were curled into a wince.

"What's wrong?" I reached for his knee but I saw him recline into himself.

"Do-do you love me?" He asked as his bottom lip began to quiver.

"Of course I do." I looked at him; Donnie Darko was stealing my heart, "I love you Donnie Kristopher Darko."

"Prove it." He looked up at me with puppy eyes filled with hope. I leaned forward and pulled him into a hug, then leaned us back so he was lying on top of me. He laid his head on my chest and he smiled then fell asleep.

I woke up to an overcast, like the sky was about to weep. I sat up and looked around to find Donne gone; I ran back towards our neighborhood and was stopped my Grandma Death.

"He died alone." She harshly whispered at me, "You led him to die alone.

I ran past her and stopped on the sidewalk in front of Donnie's house. Police cars blocked off the street as officers stood in the front lawn. Firefighters doused the top right room in water while a still slightly whirring airplane jet was hoised out of the rubble of a room as if it were a prize from a crane game. My eyes scanned over the front lawn to see Donnie's older sister, Elizabeth, wiping away the mascara streaks on her cheeks. Donnie's father held Samantha and did his best to hold back tears.

Donnie's mom stood by the tree, in her rose pink robe, smoking a cigarette. She seemed distraught and out of her mind, like a mannequin in the middle of the desert, confused and out of place.

"Mrs. Darko!" I yelled from over the low hedges, the police had barricaded the entrance to their lawn. I felt a hundred miles away. I yelled even louder, "Mrs. Darko!"

I waved at her gently, she slowly turned to me and held up her hand, acknowledging my wave. I opened my mouth to speak but was cut short by an officer pushing me off to the side as he opened the barricade to usher out a gurney with a cloth draped over it.

"Where's Donnie Darko?" I asked as the procession of the gurney passed me, to Elizabeth.

She gave me a saddened smile and pointed to the gurney being loaded into the back of a Coroner's van, "That's what's left of him. Everything intact."

"What?" My voice trailed off into a whisper as I followed her eyes to the dangling airplane jet and Donnie's room.

I shook my head, 'No, he's hiding in his closet, he's fine.' I ran past the barricade and into the Darko's home.

"Donnie!" I yelled in the foyer. I ran into the kitchen and back around to the staircase and gripped the banister, "Donnie!"

I jumped over the banister and ran up the stairs to his room; I opened the door to rubble and incinerated roofing. I fell to my knees in the rubble and began to dig through it, my fingers burned to the dulling heat of the fire.

"Donald Kristopher Darko, I'm here for you! Don't give up, I'll find you!" I ran over to where Donnie's bed was buried; I dug ferociously until I reached his covers. I brushed them off and found blood on Donnie's pillow, an entire indent of the way he slept was stamped firmly into the mattress.

"Donnie?" I questioned the imprint of his bed, "Why'd you leave me?"

I sat on the floor and pulled my hair back forcefully from my face; my knees settled close to my chest as the room began to spin. The hurt of the hurricane was just beginning.


	2. One

"Donald Darko." The substitute called out to my fifth period class, "Darko, Donald."

"He's dead." Someone muttered behind me.

"Total worm chow." Another classmate added.

"I'm sorry?" The sub didn't get it. Nobody did; Donnie was gone and it was as if no one noticed. Every class I had with him left questions of where he was and what he was doing.

I'd answer that he was on his way six feet downtown in an overpriced box of oak…but I told nobody that all I wanted to do was die. Mrs. Darko was catatonic while Mr. Darko drove Elizabeth and Samantha to and from school. This wasn't even the worst part; everything that wasn't burned or demolished in Donnie's room was thrown out into the front yard for a mediocre yard rummage sale.

I glared at the substitute and growled, "He's dead, okay? Donald Kristopher Darko is gone, on his way to a hole in the ground, whatever's left of him anyway." Every word burned as they escaped my mouth. I stood up and knocked my chair down, grabbed my stuff and began for the door.

"Where do you think you're going? What's your name?" The sub gave me a teacher-menacing look. I didn't flinch.

"My name is Noelle Dreamcatcher Roswell, I am Donnie's boyfriend."

I sat on the front step of the Darko's home, the mountain of Donnie's former possessions made an eerie shadow on the sidewalk. My cheeks were wet with tears, I felt as if my eyes wouldn't let me cry anymore. I wiped my eyes on my jacket sleeves and played at the frays of my skirt.

"Dreamcatcher." I heard a deep, distorted voice call from the end of the Darko's lawn. I looked up to see a grungy bunny costume with a skeleton face, "Dreamcatcher, follow me."

I slowly stood up and took a step towards the demonic rabbit, "What's your name?"

"I'm Frank. I was a friend of Donnie's." I took a step towards the rabbit again and found myself tripping over a headstone.

Looking around, I found myself in the town's cemetery, standing in front of 'D. Darko: beloved brother, son, friend and companion.'

"Companion?" I screeched, "Companion? All he is to me, all he was to me was my companion?"

Frank didn't say anything as I fell to my knees and began to dig through the wet dirt; they decided to get it over with, just burying him while I was at school. As I burrowed through the dirt, I came across cold flesh…

"They didn't put him in a casket?" I asked as my hand brushed against Donnie's. I looked up to see Frank gone, and when I looked up to the sky, it was night.

I was sitting in the clearing of the field where Donnie told me he loved me. My white dress was stained with blood along with my hands. I stood up and tried to scream, but I remained unheard.

"Trouble?" Frank asked as he stood at the edge of the field.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked as I kneeled to the ground and grabbed the sides of my head. It felt as if an axe was splitting me in half.

"You killed Donnie."

"That's bullshit! I loved Donnie." I screamed as I pulled at my hair. As I pulled my hands away, there was more blood.

"You have 36 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds…58…57…56…" I stood up and found myself in Donnie's bedroom, completely unscathed.

"What am I supposed to do?" I yelled to the ceiling.

"55…54…53…52..51…"


End file.
